Women’s History Month Spotlight: Jully Black (2025)
Currently on her ‘Songs & Stories’ tour (March 2025), Canada’s Queen of R&B, Ms. Jully Black is giving fans a personal sonic check-in. Using the stage as a platform, she exudes reassurance, ambition and love – qualities that every single person watching can share in and know that she is wishing them the same success.
Born in Toronto, Canada to Jamaican parents at a time where opportunities for success in entertainment were scarce, Jully honed her vocal talent, songwriting and acting skills with a determination that caused many to take notice.
Moving through barriers, Jully released 4 studio albums, and 2 remix EPs, and has collaborated and written for many artists, including Nas, Saukrates, Choclair, Kardinal Offishall, Destiny’s Child, and Sean Paul.
Canada’s national broadcast network, CBC Music, chose Jully as one of “The 25 Greatest Canadian Singers Ever” and dubbed her “Canada’s Queen of R&B,” echoing the sentiments of fans and industry peers alike.
Similar to pushing through obstacles presented in her career, Jully independently breaks another barrier by producing her own tour. Speaking to Etalk Daily, she said “it’s been a long time coming.” She also shared that the tour celebrates her Mom, and of equal importance, the tour gives a voice to the voiceless. Always one to support others, Jully features fellow female vocalists who open for her show.
Visit Jully Black Online
The youngest of nine children, Jully grew up in the North York neighborhood of Jane and Finch. After performing at Luminato in June 2010 in Toronto at age 19, Jully was discovered by Warner/Chappell Music who immediately signed her. Shortly after, she was courted by Universal Music Canada where she was offered a deal to help propel her career. Capitalizing on these opportunities, Jully garnered her first JUNO Award nomination in 1997 and continued to be nominated almost every year thereafter.
Her Top 40 hit on the Canadian charts came by way of the 1998 song “Rally’n”. Subsequent singles also charted, such as “You Changed” and “Between Me and U”. In 1999, she appeared on 2Rude’s single “Dissin Us,” which won the MuchMusic Video Award for Best R&B/Soul Video in 2000.
In Summer 2005, a newly recorded album, This Is Me, was released by Universal Music Canada. The album included the hit singles “Sweat of Your Brow” and “5x Love”. According to a piracy report by IFPI, there were “2.8 million illegal file swapping requests for her music in the first two weeks of her album’s release”.
Also in the same year, Black played the Preacher in the theatre production of “Da Kink in My Hair” at the Princess of Wales Theatre in Downtown Toronto. The play was a critical success as it sold out all of its 106 performances, being extended 5 times. This led to the weekly TV series on the Global Television Network, with Black singing the opening theme and being featured in two episodes.
In Summer 2007, her new single, “Seven Day Fool”, was released, becoming Black’s first Top 10 hit in Canada. Her second album, Revival, was released on October 16, 2007, and was awarded the JUNO for R&B/Soul Recording of the Year. “Seven Day Fool” and “Revival” also became her 1st solo song and album to hit 1 million plays on Spotify, despite being released long before the platform’s creation.
Black was a correspondent on the sixth season of the CTV reality competition show Canadian Idol and hosted the 2008 Canadian Radio Music Awards. She has also been a celebrity reporter for the CTV daily entertainment news magazine program, Etalk. Black is also a featured weekly guest panelist on the CTV daytime talk show, The Marilyn Denis Show, and has been a multiple presenter at both the 2010 and 2011 P&G Beauty & Grooming Awards.
In 2009, Black, alongside YoungPete Alexander and Kellis E. Parker, wrote and released her third studio album, The Black Book. Following its release, Black kicked off a country-wide tour in Vancouver at the 2010 Winter Olympics. In 2011, Black and YoungPete created a new production team known as “The Officials”.
Black was selected to perform and open for Celine Dion at the 2012 Jamaica Jazz and Blues Festival honouring Jamaica’s 50th Anniversary of Independence in 2012. She was also nominated for a 2012 JUNO Award for ‘Best R&B/Soul Recording’ for her song “Set It Off” featuring Kardinal Offishall. In the same year, Black released an EP, Dropping W(8), a reference to her having these songs and feeling a weight on her shoulders.
In 2023, she sang the Canadian national anthem at the 2023 NBA All-Star Game. Black changed the lyrics from “our home and native land” to “our home on native land” as a mark of respect to the Indigenous groups within Canada. She was later honoured by the Assembly of First Nations for this action. In the same year she participated in an all-star recording of Serena Ryder’s single “What I Wouldn’t Do”, which was released as a charity single to benefit Kids Help Phone’s Feel Out Loud campaign for youth mental health.
Discography:
2005: This Is Me
2007: Revival
2009: The Black Book
2022: Three Rocks and a Slingshot
Official mixtapes:
2012: Dropping W(8)
Every year, March is designated Women’s History Month by the United Nations. The month is set aside to honor women’s contributions; L3 Magazine focuses on contributions in music and entertainment.
Did You Know? Women’s History Month started as Women’s History Week . . .
Women’s History Month began as a local celebration in Santa Rosa, California. The Education Task Force of the Sonoma County (California) Commission on the Status of Women planned and executed a “Women’s History Week” celebration in 1978. The organizers selected the week of March 8 to correspond with International Women’s Day. The movement spread across the country as other communities initiated their own Women’s History Week celebrations the following year.
In 1980, a consortium of women’s groups and historians—led by the National Women’s History Project (now the National Women’s History Alliance)—successfully lobbied for national recognition. In February 1980, President Jimmy Carter issued the first Presidential Proclamation declaring the Week of March 8th 1980 as National Women’s History Week.
Subsequent Presidents continued to proclaim a National Women’s History Week in March until 1987 when Congress passed Public Law 100-9, designating March as “Women’s History Month.” Between 1988 and 1994, Congress passed additional resolutions requesting and authorizing the President to proclaim March of each year as Women’s History Month. Since 1995, each president has issued an annual proclamations designating the month of March as “Women’s History Month.”
The National Women’s History Alliance selects and publishes the yearly theme. The theme for Women’s History Month 2025 is “Moving Forward Together! Women Educating & Inspiring Generations.”
